English clauses always have a subject:
• to introduce a new topic:
There are more than twenty people waiting to see you.
There were some biscuits in the cupboard.
There were a lot of people shouting and waving.
• times and dates:
• on the telephone:
• when we point them out for the first time:
His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.
I’m waiting for my wife.Is late. > She is late.
Look at the time!Is half past two.> It’s half past two.
except for the imperative (see more)I’m waiting for my wife.
Look at the time!
Go away.
Play it again please.
If we have no other subject we use there or it.Play it again please.
there
We use there as a dummy subject with part of the verb be followed by a noun phrase. (see Clauses, sentences and phrases):• to introduce a new topic:
There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.
There has been an accident. I hope no one is hurt.
• with numbers or quantities:There has been an accident. I hope no one is hurt.
There was a lot of rain last night.
There must have been more than five hundred in the audience.
• to say where something is:There must have been more than five hundred in the audience.
There used to be a playground at the end of the street.
There are fairies at the bottom of the garden.
I wonder if there will be anyone at home.
• with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and the to-infinitive:There are fairies at the bottom of the garden.
I wonder if there will be anyone at home.
There is nothing to do in the village.
There was plenty to read in the apartment
There was nothing to watch on television.
There is a lot of work to do
If we want to show the subject of the to-infinitive we use for:
There was plenty to read in the apartment
There was nothing to watch on television.
There is a lot of work to do
If we want to show the subject of the to-infinitive we use for:
There is nothing for the children to do in the village.
There was plenty for us to read in the apartment
There was nothing for them to watch on television.
There is a lot of work for you to do.
• with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and an -ing verb:There was plenty for us to read in the apartment
There was nothing for them to watch on television.
There is a lot of work for you to do.
There is someone waiting to see you.
There were a lot of people shouting and waving.
We use a singular verb if the noun phrase is singular:There were a lot of people shouting and waving.
There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.
There was a lot of rain last night.
There is someone waiting to see you.
We use a plural verb if the noun phrase is plural:There was a lot of rain last night.
There is someone waiting to see you.
There are more than twenty people waiting to see you.
There were some biscuits in the cupboard.
There were a lot of people shouting and waving.
It
We use it to talk about:• times and dates:
It’s nearly one o’clock.
It’s my birthday.
• weather:It’s my birthday.
It’s raining.
It’s a lovely day.
It was getting cold.
• to give an opinion about a place:It’s a lovely day.
It was getting cold.
It’s very cold in here.
It will be nice when we get home.
It’s very comfortable in my new apartment.
• to give an opinion followed by to-infinitive:It will be nice when we get home.
It’s very comfortable in my new apartment.
It’s nice to meet you.
It will be great to go on holiday.
It was interesting to meet your brother at last.
• to give an opinion followed by an -ing verb:It will be great to go on holiday.
It was interesting to meet your brother at last.
It’s great living in Spain.
It’s awful driving in this heavy traffic.
It can be hard work looking after young children.
It’s awful driving in this heavy traffic.
It can be hard work looking after young children.
Using "it" to talk about people
We use it to talk about ourselves:• on the telephone:
Hello. It’s George.
• when people cannot see us:
[Mary knocks on door] It’s me. It’s Mary.
We use it to talk about other people:• when we point them out for the first time:
Look. It’s Sir Paul McCartney.
Who’s that? I think it’s John’s brother.
• when we cannot see them and we ask them for their name:Who’s that? I think it’s John’s brother.
[telephone rings, we pick it up] Hello. Who is it?
[someone knocks on door. We say:] Who is it?
[someone knocks on door. We say:] Who is it?
Task 1
Task 2
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Comments
I have problem with recognizing the subject! as I see you Have explained that EXPLETIVE can be a subject of a sentence, but I've read on a site that it's not possible:
"there was a car parked on the other side of the road." it was said the real sentence is: "A car was parked on the other side of the road." So, the subject is CAR, NOT It.
could you please help me with this or introduce resources that can help me?
Best Wishes
Mohsen
I'm afraid I don't understand your question. What do you mean by 'EXPLETIVE'? I think you mean a different word, but I don't know which word. You also say 'the subject is CAR, NOT It', but there is no 'it' in the sentence you quote. Did you mean 'there', or something else?
Please clarify your question and we'll be happy to answer. However, please note that we are happy to explain and clarify what we have on our site but we don't comment on what other sites may contain.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
"there is a car parked on the other side of the road."
it was said that "there" is not the subject of the sentence because the original sentence must be :"A car was parked on the other side of the road." so, "Car" is the subject in both sentences.
And "Expletive" is dummy subject I suppose.I have seen it in many sites such as Wikipedia.
Best Wishes
Mohsen
Thank you for clarifying. I'm not sure what you mean by 'original sentence' here. This sentence is a perfectly good sentence with its own structure, and that is not dependent on any other sentence.
The sentence has two clauses:
1) 'There is a car'. In this clause, 'There' is the subject.
2) '[which iss] parked on the other side of the road.' As you can see, this is a reduced relative clause, or a participal clause (these are not exactly the same thing, but many participal clauses are reduced relative clauses). The subject is in fact 'which', but this has been removed to create the reduced relative clause, and I suspect that is the source of the confusion.
For more information on participal clauses see here.
'Expletive' is another word for 'swear word'. It is not a synonym for 'dummy subject'!
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
What are pronouns of these sentences, IT OR THEY?
There are some milk in the fridge. what is the pronoun of SOME MILK.
I have much money. what is the pronoun of MUCH MONEY.
I have blue trousers. what is the pronoun of BLUE TROUSERS.
best regard
Arvan
I'm afraid we're not able to answer so many emails like this. We can, from time to time, explain particular points from our pages to our users, but we can't answer queries asking us to correct or explain a series of sentences in each. Please understand that we have many tens of thousands of users and we simply are not able to provide this kind of frequent personal help.
'Some milk' and 'much money' are uncountable nouns and so we cannot use 'they'. 'Blue trousers' is plural and so we would use 'they'.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
I want to know what their meanings are different.
For example:
It’s great living in Spain.
It can be hard work looking after young children.
can we say?
It’s great to live in Spain.
It can be hard work to look after young children.
Best regards,
Rachel
There is no real difference in meaning, and both forms are possible in these examples. I would say that -ing is more common, however.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Query: (please explain with three or four example sentences)
This sentence is from a popular English magazine:
Sentence: "maybe it was coins, spilled from a fallen purse"
My question: why do they have used singular noun "it" with singular verb "was" when the subject compliment "coins" is plural?
Further sentences of similar construction:
"It was coins, cans, and whatever debris was solid enough to chuck from the crappy baseball seats"